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Exclusive report of the Council of Álava
The Council of Álava sent the Basque Government a negative report on the Laminoria wind turbines
  • The company Aixeindar, S.A. intends to build a wind and photovoltaic plant called "Laminoria" on the grounds of Arraia Maeztu, Iruraiz-Gauna and San Millán. It has not been clarified whether this project will receive environmental authorisation from the Basque Government. The environmental impact report produced by the Provincial Council of Álava has come to the hands of ARGIA. On 14 June, the Basque Government sent the Basque Government a comprehensive and forceful report which concludes: "The environmental impact of the construction and commissioning of the wind farm in Laminoria would be critical, unacceptable."
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The report prepared by the departments of Environmental Sustainability and Natural Heritage of the Provincial Council of Álava is exhaustive, detailed and forceful (here you can see the full PDF). Amaia Barredo Martín sent Pedro Rodríguez Díaz on 14 June: Barredo was then a member of the Department of Sustainability, Agriculture and Natural Environment of the Provincial Council of Álava and Rodríguez, a member of the Álava delegation of the Industrial Administration of the Basque Government. Ten days after the report was sent, on 24 June, Amaia Barredo became Basque Government Minister for Food, Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries.

The Provincial Council of Álava forwarded the report to the Basque Government on 14 June. So far it has not been made public. LUZ CC-BY-SA

Although the "Laminoria" project involves a wind and photovoltaic power plant, the report of the Alavesa Provincial Council points out that environmental impacts must be measured in a differentiated way, since the consequences of each of them will be very different.

The report reads as follows: "As you can see in the photo, the project is located in a strategic area, as it is a transition zone, a key ecological corridor between Entzia, Izki Natural Park, Montes de Vitoria, Robledales de la Llanada. Much of this environment also has the declaration of Important Zone for the Conservation of Birds and Biodiversity. Its value for birds and fauna is enormous, both at the CAPV and peninsular levels, and the connections between these spaces are direct and almost instantaneous." The map shows in red the wind power plant that want to build in Azazeta, in yellow the photovoltaic that want to build in Laminoria, the wind mills that intend to install in the orange circles in Laminoria, the roads that intend to build in blue to build infrastructures and the underground road that intend to build in dark green. This light green area, which surrounds the Azazeta and Laminoria projects, is the areas of the Natura 2000 network.

In addition, the report warns that the other project presented by Aixeindar to the Basque Government, the Azazeta wind plant, will be "close" to this Laminoria project, 2.4 km away, and this must be taken into account when analysing each project and its effects on the environment.

However, its conclusion is firm, regardless of whether or not the Azazeta plant was built, on the damage that the exclusive construction of the Laminoria plant would have: the environmental impacts generated by the wind power plant would not be admissible, as they would be "critical" for birds and chamarras classified as "threatened", for the Ecological Connectivity between the spaces of the Natura 2000 network and for the "Community Habitats".

It assesses differently the impact of the Laminoria PV plant: He says that he would be "acceptable magnifier", as this field is already maneuvered (quarry in recovery phase). It points out, however, that the specific location of the company Aixeindar should be reviewed in order to ensure that it meets the restoration tasks as adequately as possible, and that the company should take action in the environment to compensate for the damage caused.

General conclusion of the Provincial Council of Álava.
Impact on birds and frames

The report of the Provincial Council of Álava points out that this area is a transitional zone between the Alavesa Mountain and the Llanada and is very suitable for the nesting of birds and the search for food. It argues that the presence of many threatened birds is ensured by: The MITERD has detected 122 species (Ministry of Spain, Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge). 40% of these species are threatened, according to the Basque Catalogue of Endangered Species.

The Xaguzar species counted are at least 20, which accounts for more than 75% of the Xaguzar species in the CAPV as a whole.

The report notes that the report submitted by the company Aixeindar on birds in the area has been very short: "The developer has only identified 40% of the birds who are sure to have a presence there, we believe that the effort he has made has not been enough." But the report of the Provincial Council of Álava states that the company Aixeindar itself accepts: "In the same study that the promoter has presented on birds, it is concluded that, even if measures are taken to protect, correct and compensate them, the interruption of the ecological corridor, especially in Laminoria, would be difficult to soften".

Laminoria project: eight windmills and one photovoltaic plant

Aixeindar aims to install eight windmills under the "Laminoria" project: Each of them would have a force of 5 MW, with a height of 150-170 meters, and would be placed on two lines: four windmills to be installed on the slopes of Mount Indiagana and four on Mount Iturrieta. The distance between the two lines would be 1.4 km.

The PV plant that Aixeindar wants to deploy in Laminoria is located in the recovering quarry at Arraia Maeztu. It would occupy a total area of 58.10 ha.

On 20 October the "day of resistance" was celebrated through a mountain march to the mountains of Iturrieta and Vitoria-Gasteiz convened by Arabako Mendia Aske.